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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22973302">Hunt of the Fellbeast</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainphee/pseuds/rainphee'>rainphee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Metal Gear Fantasy [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Metal Gear</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dragons, Established Mei Ling/Meryl, Established Otacon/Solid Snake, Established Relationship, High Fantasy, M/M, MORE dramatic high fantasy fighting!!, Monsters, Multi, Necromancy, The Snake Brothers Fucked Up: The Fic, dd is a dragon (again), knights! magic! swords! oh my!, past grey fox/solid snake (mentioned), there are a few ocs in this but they are extremely minor i promise, this time people get kidnapped, yes you do have to read the first one to understand this one</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:41:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>16,176</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22973302</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainphee/pseuds/rainphee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When the golem Sahelanthropus was destroyed, it ushered a new era of peace to the land. Hal and David find happiness in each other, and their lives are going smoothly. But peace cannot last, and when a mysterious monster takes up residence in the Fell and threatens David's family, they will have to unravel a web of secrets and mistakes to defeat the mighty Fellbeast.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kazuhira Miller/Venom Snake, Mei Ling/Meryl Silverburgh, Otacon/Solid Snake</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Metal Gear Fantasy [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1650931</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Of Beginnings and Goodbyes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Emma, you’re going to wear right through your shoes at this rate.”<br/><br/>Hal perches his chin on his hand, watching his sister pace madly around the room as she checks her own bags for the umpteenth time. She’s all worried glances and furtive movements, eyes flicking back and forth behind the smooth panes of her glasses.</p><p>“I have to make sure everything’s ready- what if I forget something! Or what if we need something along the way- Hal, I <em> know </em>Raiden’s capable, but we can’t predict everything-”</p><p>She reaches up and fidgets with the metallic sticks in her hair. They’re just a plaything of carved silver and inlaid jade, but she had always loved to use them to keep her hair up, and as she pulls her hands back down, Hal catches sight of a magical spark darting between the pair.</p><p>He stands up, brushes himself off. The sun falls thick and golden from the high windows, illuminating the motes of dust hanging in the air. “Emma, you’ll be fine. It’s just the Fell, it’s only a few days north. You’ll be back before you can miss us.”</p><p>She whirls around, ready to admonish him, but before she can there’s a knock at the door that draws both their attention. </p><p>“King Hal? Princess Emma?” comes the voice from the other side, and they both know who it is. “Can I come in? Or you could come out.”</p><p>Hal looks at Emma pointedly over the rim of his glasses, and she huffs, grabbing her bag from the long table on the far side of Hal’s room. She shoulders it. “We’re coming out, Raiden!”</p><p>They open the door, and there’s Raiden, standing as tall as he can muster, gleaming in brand-new armor. Emma squeaks with excitement and gives him a thorough look, investigating every panel and every gleaming pauldron. He seems insufferably proud of himself, and Hal has to resist the urge to fondly ruffle his hair, although he probably wouldn’t mind.</p><p>“You look wonderful!” Emma says, pulling back and bouncing slightly on her heels. “When are you getting the title?”</p><p>They begin walking, Raiden’s new boots loud in the hall. “Meryl says it should be next month for sure, but she’s still talking with the <em> king- </em>“ he shoots Hal a loaded gaze- “about the exact date. But soon.”</p><p>“I’m referring to her on this,” Hal replies. “And David. They’ll know when you’re ready to really be Snow Lynx.”</p><p>“Snow Lynx! I love it!” Emma crows. “A real knight, our Raiden! He’s come so far!”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. No thanks to you.” He pushes open the door to the courtyard, and holds it open, inclining his head. “Nobility first...”</p><p>The afternoon is piercingly bright, even in mid-autumn, when there are normally heavy clouds lying overhead. Hal shades his eyes with his hand in the brightness, looking over the small group assembled. Meryl’s standing next to Emma’s horse, checking the straps; she waves when she sees them. Mei Ling is nowhere to be seen, but she’s probably around somewhere, and approaching from the far side-</p><p>“Auntie Emma!” She halts halfway to her horse and turns to see David, holding one of Sunny’s little hands as they make their way across the courtyard. She picks her up easily and spins her around, David grinning widely.</p><p>“Are you go- going somewhere, Auntie Emma?” Sunny asks, as Hal approaches and slides in next to David. He is rewarded with a warm hand between his shoulderblades. </p><p>“Yeah, I am!” Emma replies cheerfully. “Auntie Emma’s going to go and find something really cool to help her do magic better.”</p><p>“Can- can I see it when yo- you get back?” </p><p>“Of course!” </p><p>Sunny giggles as Emma kisses her on the cheek, and hands her back to David. She grins briefly at Hal before turning her intense eyes onto the preparing pair.</p><p>“Try not to make too much of a scene!” Meryl calls as Raiden mounts his horse. “You’re just going to fetch something from under a hill. Be careful though!”</p><p>“We will!” Emma’s shuffling through her bags, a last-minute check as Mei Ling emerges from the door to the barracks, and is instantly pulled to her fiance’s side. Meryl grins and kisses her cheek.</p><p>“Be back in time for the wedding, too!” </p><p>Raiden rolls his eyes. “Please. It’s in a month! We’ll be home before you can even miss us.”</p><p>“Just don’t get distracted, Raiden,” Hal replies, breaking from David and Sunny to gesture for the gates to rise. “Be safe!”</p><p>“Promise!” Emma calls behind her as the gates are cranked up and the horses trot away. Sunny waves wildly at them, the townsfolk looking up briefly at the princess’ small procession before continuing with their days. The sun glints off Raiden’s pauldrons, and the sticks in Emma’s hair, and Hal watches them go and sighs when they disappear out of sight.</p><p>David’s thumb rubs his back, a small, comforting movement. “They’ll be fine, Hal. The Fell isn’t too far.”</p><p>He laughs and shakes his head, the gate slowly beginning to grind down towards the ground. “I was just telling her that ten minutes ago.”</p><p>“Still, you were stressed,” David replies, shifting Sunny on his hip. “Relax. They’ll be back before you know it, with Emma’s magical whatever in tow.”</p><p>“Daddy, can yo-you te- tea- teach me some magic today!” Sunny butts in, shoving her head up between them. “Miss- Miss Mei has been busy all day! Please!”</p><p>Hal laughs and catches Mei Ling’s eye as she passes him by, throwing him a sneaky wink. “Sunny, you know I’m not very good at magic like Auntie Emma or Miss Mei...”</p><p>“B-but you can still teach me! Pa-papa says that yo-you’re the bestest magici-magician in the world!”</p><p>“<em>David. </em>”</p><p>David shrugs, hiding his grin in Sunny’s hair. “What. She wanted to know the story about Sahelanthropus again.”</p><p>“Your <em> papa</em>,” Hal shoots David a quick glare, “wasn’t being totally truthful. But I can teach you something if you really want to know, how’s that sound?”</p><p>Sunny’s eyes glitter and she clasps her hands together. “I-I do! I do! Than- thank you, daddy!”</p><p>Hal’s face hurts from grinning as they head inside, his worries about Emma and Raiden almost gone. But just before the door closes behind him, Hal looks outside, and even though the day is bright and the world seems soft and whole, there’s a flicker at the edge of his vision.</p><p>He blinks and it’s gone, and he shrugs it off moments later. He could have sworn he saw a dot of dark on the horizon, just for a moment before the sun caught his glasses. But it’s nothing.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Of Arrivals and Premonitions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which an old friend is seen.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>David isn’t sure, at first, what wakes him up that night. He stirs to a familiar room dressed in the darks and heavy blues of nighttime; the vague shapes of the rest of the castle and town beyond visible through the stained glass. On one of the nightstands, the one next to him, a fat candle gutters alone in a metal bowl, casting thick yellow light in a flickering circle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He checks his family first, before anything. Hal is sleeping peacefully, all curled up next to him in a tangle of long limbs and faint snores. The candlelight catches the delicate curves of his face and makes his silver hair, inherited from his mother, shine gold.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Next to him, Sunny is tucked up tightly against the pillows, her little body all curled up in a package as small as she can make herself. David can still remember the first night they all slept in the same bed; he had been terrified that he’d roll over and crush Sunny, but he never did.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’re both completely out, and David’s restlessness is his own to deal with. Shifting his legs as quietly as he can manage, he grabs the bowl with one hand and stands, feeling how warm the candle and its melted wax pool are in the cold night air of the castle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nightmares are no stranger to him, but he doesn’t think he’s had one. He knows what that feels like- his racing heart, covered in sweat, panic ringing in his skull. If he’d had a nightmare, his family would have woken up too. No, this was different...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So instead, he wanders. The moonlight casts tall, curved panels on the dark stone floor, sometimes warping through stained glass panels depicting bygone kings and ancient battles. The air is still here, without even a breeze to brush the edges of tapestries or make the windows rattle. David feels the biting edge of the chill on his feet and arms.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s been years since what drove him from this castle, but sometimes when he walks alone like this, David can taste the edge of memories built here. He stops before an old, dusty suit of armor-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Wait up, Eli! Wait up!”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He’s chasing after his brother through the crowds of servants, trying desperately to wipe the grin from his face as they barrel through the waitstaff. They’re playing tag, and David is it- he knows Eli won’t stop just because he asked, but he does it anyway.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Losing his balance as they careen around a corner, David’s boots catch on the floor, and he slides through the people, crashing directly into a suit of armor tucked away into an alcove. When he untangles himself from the plates and springs to his feet, he’s sure he’s dented the metal.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>But then Eli blows a raspberry at him and disappears down the next turn, and David has no choice but to laugh and keep running, ignoring the mess he’s made...</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He continues on, passes a small window alcove tucked in between two pillars-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Venom’s soft-scratchy arms swallow David up, wrapping him in the warm smell of far-away desert sand and the exotic cigars he smokes. Uncle Venom had been away for a whole month this time, way over the sea to the east, where he said there was sand as far as the eye could see and the sun beat down as hot as a fire.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He reaches above David, pointing at places on the map below his small fingers. “This is the Oasis of Wind, David. And this was the pit where we found the basilisk... Quiet really helped me. I nearly got turned into stone, but she got it before it got your old uncle...”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Who’s that?”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Quiet? Ah, just a friend I made while I was there, Dave... I don’t think you’ll ever get the chance to meet her, but who knows.” He chews contentedly at his cigar. “Maybe fate will have our paths cross again.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David feels both young and old as he relives these memories, aging too fast and not fast enough. Bits and pieces are being replaced with memories of walking through here with Sunny’s little hand in his, or with Meryl by his side, eagerly chatting. If he walked the same paths enough, would the memories from before vanish, or simply fade a little?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There. That was it- a distant noise, that echoes through the halls and bounces off the stone. He’s sure that it was what woke him up before. He’d always been a light sleeper, and there was something... eerily familiar about the sound. Like it was poking at some nostalgic thing from long ago...</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“He’s already learning to fly?” David bounces eagerly on his heels, watching the young dragon carefully as he balanced awkwardly on a spire of the castle roof. Eli cheers boisterously, and beside them, Kaz’s arms are crossed, and he stares up at the reptile with a furrow in his brow.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Well, I think he’s about the right age,” Venom rumbles, and his dragon shudders briefly, loses his balance. All eyes are on him now, but his singular eye is trained above, on the sky.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>As David watches, he begins to run, slides down for an enormous leap when his talons hit the roof ridge- and then his shadow is over them all, as massive wings scoop the sky, buffeting them all with a blast of air.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>D.D. is flying, and David hears his wings beat as he rises higher and hi-</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“D.D.,” David whispers, loud in the silent halls. And then he begins to run.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shoves open the doors to the courtyard balcony just in time to hear the yelling of the late-night guard, to have the moon blocked from sight and feel the blast of heat all dragons carried with them. Arrows shoot by- there’s a loud </span>
  <em>
    <span>thock </span>
  </em>
  <span>as a few hit D.D.’s scaly hide, and he screams, thrashing wildly but not slowing his fast descent. He’s coming down too quickly, and knights are rushing in, the castle- and the city beyond- stirring as the dragon does not hide his crazed roars.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David thinks only briefly that this will certainly wake Sunny up. He’s too busy sprinting downstairs, pushing his way through the miniature crowd of half-armored knights rudely awoken from well-earned slumber, shoving open the courtyard doors.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s just in time to see D.D. hit the ground- and crumple.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>welcome to real sad boy hours ft. david</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Of Concern and Destruction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which a child is woken.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Hal’s breath is sharp in his lungs as screaming jolts him from his sleep. Sunny is standing at the side of the bed, tears in her eyes as she clutches his sheets, but she’s not the one who’s screeching. She could never howl like what woke Hal up- an anguished, animal scream, rattling his windowpanes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He takes a moment to scramble to his feet, wrapping Sunny in his arms as she shakes, before he notices that David is gone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s only spared a moment before the door bursts open, Meryl shoving her way in, half-armored. Her eyes are wide and her hair wild, and there’s people running in the hall behind her, clashing metal and yelling filling the empty space with a dissonant cacophony.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hal- Your Majesty- are you all right?” she stumbles in, placing a hand on his arm and looking them both over. Sunny’s head is tucked in between his shoulder and neck, and she shivers there, unmoving. The creature is still screaming.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fine, we’re fine- where’s David?” Hal raises his voice above the crashing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I thought he would be here with you!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Meryl’s words fill Hal’s lungs with ice water. He bumps Sunny up higher and practically sprints towards his balcony, the one overlooking the courtyard, where the glass is rattling and his hand slips nervously off the handle, and flings the doors open.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s chaos. Utter chaos. Most of the courtyard is taken up, full of a massive, thrashing body. The night air is choking with an oppressive heat, and Hal stumbles backwards as a flailing, leathery wing nearly clips him. His knights are gathered, each one vainly yelling and screaming at the others, as the beast dribbles embers from its gaping mouth and cries in pain, knocking bricks off walls and shingles off the roof, scattering debris everywhere.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And in the middle, Hal sees David, not even armored, hands up against the beast, brow furrowed. He barks orders behind him, the tide shifting to and fro- knights with chains and swords and nets. Hal barely takes it all in, retreating back and clutching Sunny closer to his chest- but in a moment of stillness, he sees, and his eyes go wide.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The creature in his courtyard is no ordinary monster- it’s a dragon. And more than that, its head sweeps past, sprinkling cinders everywhere and revealing a smoldering patch over its left eye.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>D.D.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Under David’s commands, the knights band together, and fling chains, arcing over D.D.’s flapping wings and coiling head. Bit by bit, the chains scrape against his scales, and the thrashing, pained dragon is dragged agonizingly down to the earth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal turns on his heel and nearly crashes into Meryl, sending her reeling back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Take her,” Hal barks, untangling Sunny’s arms from his neck. She whines in protest, but as soon as Meryl has a tight hold on her Hal is gone, slipping through the knights and shoving his way onto the courtyard. When he stops, he’s panting, sweat beading on his brow. The knights notice their king and fall back from his position, standing awkwardly at attention.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David stands before D.D.’s caged snout, hands on his horns, body leaning against his spiked brow. D.D. is burbling under the weight of his new chains, shaking all the way down to the tip of his tail, embers bubbling at the corner of his mouth. His eye is visible, and it rolls in the socket, slitted pupil blown wide.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Behind David stands a few knights, similarly exhausted and in varying states of armor. Among them is Winter Wolf, who Hal knows is one of the best, despite her unnerving habit of staying on watchpoint for days at a time. She’s looking at David’s attempts to soothe the dragon with her hand on her crossbow, although she straightens when Hal draws near.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do we have a damage report yet, Wolf?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not yet,” she replies, her thickly accented voice rough in the dragon-heat. “I do not think there’s been any casualties. Mostly damage to the castle.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal nods sharply, and returns his attention to David just long enough for him to straighten up, hand on D.D.’s snout and eyes far away. “David- David, oh my God, are you all right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Something is wrong,” he replies, catching Hal easily and gripping his forearms when he rests his forehead against his shoulder. “Hal, something is wrong.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s shaking. Hal feels it under the pads of his fingers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>D.D. gurgles pathetically, and the arrayed knights flinch. Hal pulls away from David regretfully- now, unfortunately, is not the time for him to be gentle. Right now he needs to be a king. “Winter Wolf, keep watch here until the dragon calms. Coal Raven, Silent Owl, send a group to the old dragon stables, near where Iron Dove lived, and clear the space. We’ll put the supplies somewhere later.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone seems heavily reassured now that they have orders, something to do. They separate and group up, D.D.’s panicked eye flicking from knight to knight and his wings straining against their restraints. The world, similarly, cools down. The tension is slipping away, the people breathing again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Hal turns again to David, however, he sees the tension back. His shoulders are set in a harsh line, his eyes dark and brow furrowed. He doesn’t even react as Hal returns to his side, staring intently at D.D.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You should come back upstairs,” Hal whispers, because it feels like he should.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is Sunny alright?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes. Meryl has her.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m staying here, then.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>David</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Hal pulls at him, just a bit, until David turns and meets his eyes. “What </span>
  <em>
    <span>happened? </span>
  </em>
  <span>What are you seeing that I’m not?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“D.D. is </span>
  <em>
    <span>here</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” David shouts, and then reels himself in, running his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I- he would never have left Kaz. If he’s here, all scared and screaming, something terrible has happened. And I can’t just- I can’t just stay here if my uncle is dead somewhere!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kaz. David’s last family. They hadn’t seen him since the killing of Sahelanthropus- the old knight liked to be alone nowadays. But Hal understood. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So he leans into David’s side. He doesn’t lean back in, but that’s all right.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We can talk about it tomorrow. We’ll gather a group and make a trip. You’ll find your uncle, I promise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David doesn’t say anything, but after a moment, his thumb rubs against Hal’s palm, and they both stand there, watching the embers sizzle out in the dirt as D.D. finally begins to calm.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>well this doesn't bode well!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Of Ruins and Strangers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which a life is found destroyed.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Horses toss their gleaming heads in the overcast sunlight, the dull grey glow of the world washing everything out and making things flat. David pulls his steed’s bridle with practiced steps, familiar with the mare’s personality after so long riding her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Around him, the sounds of clanking armor and quiet conversation echo through the courtyard. Things are still messy from last night- he kicks away a shard of broken stone, and old coals are crushed under the horses’ hooves- but D.D. himself is safely tucked away in his old stables. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone still seems slightly on edge, however. It had been a shock to the entire castle, and though very few got hurt through some miracle, the knights are notably skittish. Even Winter Wolf, who David has asked to accompany him, has her hands notably tight on her reins when she pulls up next to him on her white stallion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The King wishes to speak with you,” she says, and David turns to see Hal, Sunny and Mei Ling standing awkwardly at the door to the main hall.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He approaches, and doesn’t know what to say. He barely slept after D.D.’s arrival, plagued by fears both named and unnamed, and spent the night polishing the Flameheart Sword. Hal holds Sunny’s little hand in his, and she looks up at David with worried eyes; he gives in only moments later and scoops her up into his arms.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You- you all ke- keep going away,” she mumbles into his neck, and the disdain in her voice makes David chuckle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We do, I’m sorry. I’ll be back really soon, I promise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She huffs, and he smiles a bit. No matter how scared he is, how tense, there’s always something about Sunny that makes David feel better.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hands her back to Hal, who’s got that look he gets when he’s worried but doesn’t say it, and when David begins to pull back, he uses his free hand to hook his armor collar and kiss him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You come back as quickly as you can,” he murmurs, their foreheads pressed together after pulling apart. “I miss you already.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hadn’t wanted David to go, at least, not so soon. They’d had a brief argument about it- a tiny thing born and died in the hall outside the stables when Hal found him checking the room for the fourth time that night. In the end, Hal had caved, but remembering it was so fresh that it still left a bitter aftertaste in David’s mouth. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I’ll make it up to him, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thinks as he retreats after a hurried conversation with Mei Ling about Meryl managing the knights while he’s gone, and then he mounts his horse and the gates rise and they’re off, four horses clattering through the main street and pushing through the crowds clamoring outside about the dragon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The capital disappears fast behind them. It always does, and is easily replaced by autumn fields rich in early season crops, yellowing grass and leaves patterning the ground in orange. He’s brought three knights with him- Winter Wolf, Coal Raven and the younger Hoar Buck, notable for their present skill in magic. They’re a well-chosen team, Dark Snake and his knights moving together seamlessly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Miles and days fall behind them swiftly and easily. With this well-oiled team, Snake and his allies are efficient and fast, and his burning drive makes them canter long into the night. He watches the stars the first time they make camp, keeping first watch, and they wink at him slyly through the sparse canopy of early Blackwood they’ve hunkered down in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kaz’s cabin is a small thing, deliberately built to be hard to find, but Kaz himself taught Snake everything he knows about tracking. He knows they’re close on the third day, as sticks crunch under their steeds’ hooves and the sounds of afternoon birdsong echoes between the tree trunks. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“On your guard,” he calls behind him, when tiny landmarks begin to fall into place and he knows they’re almost there. The lancing sunlight catches the edge of swords and armor, and he hears the distinctive click of Winter Wolf’s crossbow loading to his left. Quietly as he can, Snake draws the Flameheart from its sheath, and the fiery core of the metal glows in patches of shadow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Blackwood parts, unwillingly, but it does part, and they emerge into a clearing. The last time Snake was here was the hunting of Sahelanthropus, separated from their party in the aftermath of pouring rain, the clashing swords of battle overshadowed by a dragon attack that left his heart pounding and his blood singing. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s been three years since that day, and as their horses push through the bracken, he has to swallow a gasp.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because Kaz’s home is destroyed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What was once a cozy cabin, well-maintained and smelling of wood fires and lavender, has been reduced to little more than rubble. The roof is splintered outwards completely, and stone is scattered everywhere, the structure robbed of at least two of its walls. Supporting beams lucky enough to escape the catastrophe stick out like wooden bones from their crumbling stony exoskeleton, with window glass torn from their panes and sprinkled across the grass. Even the well outside has had a minor cave-in, and the squashed lavender bushes growing around it support the broken water bucket and rope.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The only structure at least somewhat whole is D.D.’s barn, and even that has had its doors flung violently open, loose on their hinges. The lock-board that lay across the front has been split in two, and lays on the dirt, heavily scorched. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David dismounts with a crushing feeling of defeat already choking him. He doesn’t call out, because he knows the truth: Kaz is not here. But if he was, he’d scold David for not being thorough. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You only miss tracks because you don’t put in the energy to look for them...</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He swallows down the despair in his throat. “Dismount and search. Anything notable is to be reported to me. Wolf, take the perimeter, Raven, Buck, the barn.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The party obeys, and David wanders emptily towards the ruins of the cabin. His head is stuffed with feathers, and his heartbeats are too loud in his ears. The world seems trapped in a fragile moment, never really moving past whatever had happened here.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Inside, the cabin is just as demolished as the outside. Though the chimney is still standing, very little else is, and food lays rotting and insect-covered on splintered floorboards. David picks his way between chunks of stone and torn furniture, over ruined books and scattered blankets. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He never met his grandniece, </span>
  </em>
  <span>David thinks, picking up what he recognized as Kaz’s old dagger from between broken building stones. The blade is chipped, but whether it had been broken before or after the destruction, he cannot say.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David’s not sure what draws his attention up, away from the knife. Maybe it’s the minuscule snapping of a twig, or the shift of bracken that catches his ear through the faint breeze. Or maybe it’s the eyes he feels on him, staring intently from somewhere just up ahead.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No matter what the answer is, David looks up, and sees the woman standing in the trees. Her hair is dark and tangled, her face smeared with a dark pattern of paint, or maybe dirt. She wields a crossbow, pointed at the earth; her eyes glint in the sunlight and she’s fixated on him. He stares back, unsure what to do, what to think, of who this woman is-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dark Snake, we’ve found nothing,” comes a voice from behind him. He turns, and when he turns back, the woman is gone, as if she was never there. Not even a rustle of branches tell of her passing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He exhales. Kaz is not here, and neither is the woman. Not anymore.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mount,” he calls. “We return to the capital before sunset.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Even when he turns back to his mare, David still feels like there’s eyes on him, somehow.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hmmm i wonder who that could be :3c</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Of Monsters and Crises</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which a friend is injured.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>While David’s gone, Hal busies himself with bureaucracy and the duties of a king once more. The city citizens were more than a little concerned about the dragon that had landed in the heart of their capital, and Hal spent a lot of time writing and performing speeches telling them no, the dragon was not here to eat them, and no, it was not a bad omen.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was manageable, for a few days, as D.D. rests silently in the old dragon stables. Hal visits him frequently, but he’s lethargic at best, usually only raising his head slightly from the hay-strewn dirt before flopping it back down. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The trouble really starts on the fifth day, when Sunny is finally calm again and Hal is missing David something fierce. Because that night, D.D. cries.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s not trying to break out of the stables, nor is he violent in any way. He just... cries. It’s long, low, scraping howls, rattling the stones of the castle and making Hal’s teeth ache. That night, Sunny cries because of it, but when Hal rushes in with a group of agitated knights, D.D. listlessly cries alongside her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David and his knights appear the next morning, their helms speckled with early morning dew and the foggy morning carrying a general feeling of defeat. Hal rushes out to greet them, but the solemn look on David’s face tells him everything he needs to know, and he halts just before his mare.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” he murmurs as David dismounts, takes a moment to take his helm off and run his hand through his tangled hair. Then he’s on Hal, hugging him tightly, face pressed into the side of his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It was just... destroyed,” he whispers, and Hal’s fingers find the edge of his pauldrons and the smooth metal of his back armor. “Gone. D.D. would have never...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They stay locked there for a while longer. Hal manages to tuck his face in between David’s chin and the collar of his armor, and he smells terrible- like sweat and leather- but he’s here and he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>home</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and Hal forgot how much he missed him until he was gone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sunny wakes up to her other father waiting, hair wet from a bath and in much more comfortable clothes, and she flings herself at him with reckless abandon and joy. D.D. cries again that night, and eats a bit less than he has before. And the world keeps going- agonizingly slowly, and clouded with grief as it is.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then Raiden comes home too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s twilight when Raiden’s panting mare stumbles her way through the castle gates, the sun not yet sunk from the sky, the deep gold light catching on dirtied armor and Raiden’s pale, matted hair. He’s crumpled over onto the side of her neck, clutching his side, and when the knights come urgently to his side he falls and is caught by at least five pairs of concerned hands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal bursts into the infirmary as soon as he hears. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Raiden- oh god!” He only manages to turn his head as Hal rushes to his bedside, David and Meryl not far behind. Mei Ling stands to the side and peels bloodied cloth gloves off, organizing the equipment she used to clean and begin the healing process on the gash slicing deep up his ribs. “Are you all right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, not really,” he croaks. “Nice to see you too, Your Majesty.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s pretty deep,” Mei Ling says, as she scrubs at her hands in a nearby bowl. “I don’t want to scare you, Raiden, but it almost got down to bone in a few points, and most of your body is heavily bruised. The bruising will be fine, but I’ll need to heal you over the next few weeks.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mmph.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What happened out there?” David questions, hovering nervously by Raiden’s head. “I thought this was a low-risk mission-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A feeling sinks down in Hal’s gut, stone-heavy, as he looks at Raiden, his pale skin dotted with bruises, scratches slowly stitching themselves up with magic. It almost makes him retch when the feeling hits the pit and he grips his own hand tightly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Raiden,” he says, trying to keep the panic out of his voice, low and soft. “Where’s Emma?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Raiden says nothing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Raiden.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He closes his eyes and sighs, deeply, his skinny chest rising under the sheets. The low sunlight lancing through the narrow windows makes the shadows under his eyes stand out in sharp relief against his pale face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The Fell,” he begins, slowly and carefully, “wasn’t empty. We went there and there was a monster- I tried to defend her but...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal can’t even manage to make a sound. The bile rises in his throat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I barely managed to escape it in mostly one piece. But Emma... she wasn’t so lucky. Your Majesty, I swear, I tried-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal is crying, and he didn’t even notice when he started. David’s hand is grasping at his, but it’s far away and distant.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is she alive?” he manages to choke out. The light hits Raiden, and he looks hollow, tears bubbling at the corner of his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The last I saw of her, yes. It grabbed her horse’s foreleg and dragged them both down- Your Majesty, I tried everything I could-!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We believe you, Raiden,” Meryl says softly, reaching out to place her hand on his hair. David’s hands are clasping his, and he lets the tears fall freely, looking at the bed but seeing something very far away. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hal?” he whispers. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal straightens his back, stiffens his resolve. A tear rolls down his cheek and stains his collar; his eyes are red and wet. “We leave tomorrow. Mei Ling, is he stable?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I- I mean, yes, but he needs more watching-“</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Assign Hoar Buck to infirmary, they can do some basic healing. I expect you and Meryl to accompany me. David, choose a small group, of the best we have.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wh- Hal!” Meryl protests, eyes wide. Hal pulls away from David and away from her, digging his nails into his palm to help keep the tears back. “We can’t go on a mission this fast- David was already pushing it when he rode off like that last week!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t care,” Hal spits. “A monster has my sister. I intend to kill it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he leaves, he leaves David behind, hand still open as if he wants him to take it.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>welcome to the first quarantine update of fellbeast! and with it, the plot thickens</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Of Vengeance and Trackers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which a team is followed.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>His life has been on horseback recently, David thinks, as the castle once again falls behind him. He is not a man suited to much travel; not even in his heyday as a young knight did he particularly enjoy long journeys. It’s worse, now, because Sunny is gutted when she sees the preparations being made, the horses being saddled once again. He feels sick leaving her behind once more, her tiny face streaked with silent tears. She’ll be cared for, he knows, she can visit Raiden and the servants will keep her safe and warm, but leaving her aches of a broken family.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David checks on D.D. and Raiden, before he departs. Raiden is asleep, his already pale skin ashy, and cheeks sallow. But he’s breathing. D.D. is curled up in an unhappy ball, spikes sticking from his armored back, the loose layer of hay around him scorched. His head is tucked underneath his wing, and the heat-soaked air is tepid and miserable around his body. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He leaves the dragon there, soaked in his own misery; he lets Raiden rest, fingers twitching on sheets edged with blood. Hal doesn’t look at him when he arrives, when he mounts his mare- his eyes are sharp and tight on the skyline ahead as they head out. The last time David saw him like this was years ago. Three years ago, to be exact, when his own father had threatened their child’s life with a monster of metal and magic.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The journey begins solemnly. David rides next to Hal, and they do not speak, although David swears that he’ll get him to talk soon. Behind them are Mei Ling and Meryl, each suitably dressed for a long and dangerous trip, and the group David chose are not too far behind that. Winter Wolf leads them; despite her recent long trips, she is just as determined and steely as Hal himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They stop when the moon is high and fat in the sky, and the Blackwood is a threatening smudge on the horizon. As the knights pack down and set up a fire, David pulls Hal to the side, standing them on the dark side of a tree.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hal, you’re being reckless,” he whispers. Hal’s hands are tight on his arms. “We should have waited longer, gotten ready first.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Like how you left to find Kaz without waiting first?” Hal hisses, the firelight catching the panes of his glasses. “Every minute that goes by increases the chance that my sister is dead. Would you rather I stay behind and increased the chance of the monster ripping her limb from limb, David?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He whispers it, but his words are dripping with such vitriol that David’s voice fails him. He can only try to breathe, in and out, and keep Hal with him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I just don’t want to lose you too,” he murmurs. “I don’t want to see you die because of a stupid mistake. I can’t- I can’t do that again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal softens at that, reaching up to place his hand on David’s face, pulling them closer. His fingertips are going white on David’s gauntlets.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Trust me,” he says, gentle, more gentle than David thinks he deserves. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They don’t say it that often, although it’s more frequent nowadays, as the world seems determined to smooth out the rough edges on both of them. Hal sighs, and he looks so old. When did they get older? When did the shadows appear under his eyes, when did the wrinkles framing his mouth get sharp?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you too,” he murmurs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They rise at daybreak and find themselves edging the Blackwood quickly enough. The Fell is only a few days north, a much shorter trip than heading into the tangled recesses of the forest itself, but they are taking a slightly stealthier path to avoid the rich farmland before the soil gets coarser closer to the mountains. The Fell is nothing more than an unusually large hill in the foothills of the mountain range that collaborates with the Blackwood to cut off Hal’s kingdom from the rest of the continent, but known for being hollow, the turf on top crowned by a crumbling stone monolith placed there by people long gone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David is no magician, but he’s heard stories of the old treasures tucked in the caverns below. Treasure that an aspiring, magically gifted princess might drag her soon-to-be-knighted friend to retrieve.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The sunlight is pale and watery as it shines down through the cloud layer, casting everything a few shades whiter than it should be. Nearby, the young and sparse trees of the edge of the Blackwood rustle their leaves against each other, the wind catching them and making the mane of David’s mare flare up. She snorts and he reaches down to gently stroke her neck, knowing that she’s been working far more than usual recently.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s something in the trees.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He only sees it for a moment- a flash of metal between the tree trunks, too big to be an arrowhead or sword, but too small to be a full suit of armor. His hand inches down to the hilt of the Flameheart, body tensing as he prepares for a fight.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The leaves rustle innocently among themselves, the wind tussling with waving branches. Next to him, Hal shields his face from the gusts and curses lightly under his breath. None of the rest of the party seem to have noticed anything awry. He hears what could be footsteps, cracking sticks under heavy boots- or was it just the breeze throwing the foliage against itself?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now his own mind is playing tricks on him. David snorts not unlike his steed, but his hand is tight on the hilt of his sword. He doesn’t know who or what could be skirting the Blackwood’s edge to follow him. Unbidden, his mind wanders to the woman he had seen outside Kaz’s destroyed home, who had disappeared without a trace- although with what little sleep he’d been getting, he wouldn’t be surprised if that had just been a figment of his imagination too.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still. He was a knight; trained to be careful. He began to slide closer to Hal, who looked askance at him with a questioning look in his eyes. “Hal, I think-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He is interrupted by a noise that is </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>real.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Leaves crumble into ash as D.D. descends heavily out of the sky, massive wings beating the foliage into a frenzy of fluttering, burning green. His tongue lolls out of his jaws, dripping embers; around his neck is the broken chain attached to the leather collar they used to tie him to a spike in the old stables. The ground crumbles under his claws as he lands in front of David and Hal, their horses whinnying in fright but not stampeding just yet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Diamond?” David yells over the horses and the rolling canopy overhead. “Go home! What are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>doing</span>
  </em>
  <span> here?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The dragon groans, deep and low in his throat, and then coughs, spitting a ball of low embers on the earth that sizzle out within seconds. His eyepatch is damaged, part of it torn off, and underneath the square of fabric, David can see the empty eye socket, there since he tore free of his egg. D.D.’s slitted eye glows orange in the pale daylight, and is fixed on him, as he lowers his head and makes a plaintive mumbling noise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“David,” Hal hisses through his teeth, keeping his eyes locked on their new companion, “Why didn’t you tell me you were bringing D.D.?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because I </span>
  <em>
    <span>didn’t</span>
  </em>
  <span> bring him. He must have broken out and found us...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why is he here?” Meryl cries from behind him, to sounds of agreement from the rest of the knights. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know! D.D., go </span>
  <em>
    <span>back.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he pleads.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The dragon sinks his claws deeper in the earth and snorts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think he’s going anywhere,” Hal says. “Well, we’re not stopping, D.D.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The party readies itself for D.D. to stop them, but as they file out, he lets them go. Not moments after they’ve all passed him, he stands up, ruffles his leathery wings, and takes up a spot at the very end of the group, walking slowly behind Coal Raven’s stallion. Smoke pours from his flared nostrils, but other than the sound of his talons crunching the sticks below, he is silent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David sighs and turns his gaze back to the trail, now with plus one new member.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Of Mercenaries and Brotherhood</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which many things are revealed.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>D.D. is surprisingly docile as they move forwards, walking a distance behind the horses so they don’t spook and, when they make camp that night, lying away from all of them to form a dark, spiky hill in the shadows. His orange eye stares at Hal through the low brush, and every time he moves, the deep glow of flame burns brighter between the scales along his throat. There’s a moment- a horrifying, upsetting moment- where his form in the gloom reminds Hal sharply of Sahelanthropus, and he has to take a moment to catch the breath that was ripped out of him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’re only one sleep away from the Fell, and the ancient stone spires rear their head in the silhouetted light of dawn behind them. There’s six in all, of varying size and shape, arranged in a semicircle on the grass. The turf below is littered with the debris from their thousands of years of watching over the tall hill. The air is thick here, as the sun peeks through the early-morning mist and lights it up yellow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It isn’t the structure here that interests Hal, however- rather, it’s the tucked-away mouth of a cavern in the hill’s right side, and the lump of a large body stranded on the grass some eighty or ninety paces before it. Hal dismounts to a dismayed yell from David and approaches, the stink of blood getting denser.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s a horse, and not any horse- Emma’s favorite steed, lying lifeless in front of the Fell’s gaping entrance. Though its blood makes a sickly pool around it, it does not appear to be gored; flies buzz around a set of deep gashes on its stomach and the mangled stump of one of its forelegs, but no more. The wounds remind Hal sickeningly of the slice on Raiden’s ribs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His hand tightens on the hilt of his blade. </span>
  <em>
    <span>My sister might be in the same state.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David and Meryl pull up behind him moments later, their own horses whickering in alarm at the corpse. David hisses a whistle through his teeth. “Ah... that’s no good.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tell me about it,” Meryl replies under her breath. “Your Majesty, what do we do now?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ready your blades,” he says, approaching his own black steed. “We strike tonight. David, make sure D.D. won’t interfere-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The mist parts around them, and a bolt of inky black lightning scorches the earth in between the trio, cutting Hal off sharply. The horses balk at it, tossing their heads in alarm, and all of them rear back, the knights pulling out their swords and Hal’s meager magic unwittingly sparking at his fingers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Leave this place!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” comes a voice from above, a voice that is shockingly familiar, but Hal cannot place it. Who sounded like that...?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David, on the other hand, visibly flinches and draws the Flameheart from its sheath, the fire in it catching the sun. His lip is curled in a snarl, and he turns to face the Fell, eyes sparking.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Eli,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he bites through gritted teeth, and sure enough, when Hal turns his eyes to the Fell’s crest, two figures who he hasn’t seen in years are standing against the early morning sun.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I should have known you’d come here, </span>
  <em>
    <span>brother</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” spits White Snake, David’s brother Eli. The warlock Mantis floats silently next to him, his metal jaws gleaming and his outstretched arm still glowing black with the magic he’d used to strike at them. He’s no longer in the dinged and faded armor he wore three years ago, instead in slightly threadbare peasant’s clothes, the neck untied to expose a large slice of his chest. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Get away from here, Eli,” David retorts. “There’s a monster here. It has Princess Emma captured, and we have to rescue her-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You understand so little!” Eli says, beginning to come down the hill, drawing his own sword so it shines in the light. His lip twitches in a snarl. “Why do you think </span>
  <em>
    <span>we’re </span>
  </em>
  <span>here? You must be stupid! Begone, before Mantis has to strike again!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal’s brows furrow. He’s been through too much, too fast recently. He takes a step forwards, the knights looking at him askance. “Stop speaking in riddles, White Snake! If you are here to stop us from fighting the beast, then we have no choice but to defeat you along with it!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The shy little king is getting bold, isn’t he?” Eli reaches the bottom of the Fell and levels his blade at Hal’s chest, a vicious gleam in his eye. The world stops for a bone-chilling moment as the tip of the sword pierces Hal’s shirt, and the world echoes a scene from years ago, the very same blade that cut him leveled at him again. The scar from the first encounter burns on Hal’s skin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal opens his mouth to fire back, but the Flameheart comes between them, David’s eyes blazing with fury. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t you </span>
  <em>
    <span>dare </span>
  </em>
  <span>touch him,” he growls under his breath at Eli. “Don’t you </span>
  <em>
    <span>fucking dare.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mantis raises his cloaked hands. Meryl tenses, her armor clanking. They all hold their breaths.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then the world screams.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Your Majesty!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” shrieks one of the knights, and everyone turns around just in time to see the cave opening explode in a shower of dirt and blades of grass. The Beast of the Fell launches itself out of its cavern, huge and angry, trailing spittle from its gaping maw. It is truly enormous, and almost indescribable, like no animal Hal has ever seen- and he can barely see it now as it flings itself into battle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because something </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>there, fighting it- a group of women have appeared, seemingly out of the blue, bearing deadly sharp blades and whooping with bloodthirsty glee. At their head, a woman taller than almost anyone Hal has ever seen, her face smeared with dirt around her eyes and her form extruded and nearly inhumanly lanky. She whips by them, her dirty brown hair in a tail behind her, and one of her sharp eyes pins the group to the ground before she turns to fight the Beast again. David swears under his breath.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They’re all forcibly broken from their stunned silence as the Beast thrashes under the womens’ attacks, its massive tusks flashing in the morning sun and huge forepaws striking down rows of its attackers in fell swoops. A woman with oddly metallic arms springs from the crowd and digs her talons into the Beast’s thick ruff, and it howls so loudly Hal feels his spine shake.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>STOP!” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Eli screams, and Hal’s knights coalesce behind him, yelling over the sounds of combat. D.D. is not far behind, but instead of coming to a stop behind them, he wastes no time flinging himself into the action. Eli reacts even more strongly to this, and as the strangers attempt to attack the dragon too, he sprints toward the battle. Mantis is close behind him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“God </span>
  <em>
    <span>damnit!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” David cries, then leaps onto his horse and follows- and before Hal knows it, he’s being pulled into the battle too.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I TOLD YOU BAD NEWS WAS GONNA HAPPEN!! I TOLD YOU</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Of Loss and Necromancy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which family is spoken of and new allies are met.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The last time David fought something this huge and insurmountable was Sahelanthropus, three years back. He remembers it well- he’s always been blessed with a sharp memory, and the way it had torn the earth and loomed against the sky like a titanic demon he was sure he would never forget.</p><p>But if the construct had been terrifying, the Fellbeast was an entirely different monster. </p><p>It flings itself at them with no sense of its well-being at all, tossing its huge, blocky head and roaring so loudly David’s teeth shake. It doesn’t look <em> real </em>- too-big forepaws, a twisted face with one eye missing, a set of gnarled black horns sticking from the side with the empty socket, spines jutting out from its alarmingly thin back. It’s a horrifying amalgamation of bits and pieces, a grotesque Frankenstein.</p><p>And here David goes charging in to attack it, because god <em> damn it all </em>, he can’t let his brother die, nor D.D. </p><p>The dragon is largely ignored by the group of women as he fans his wings, trumpeting in alarm. David is still unpleasantly confounded as he wades into the fray and sees how organized all the women are; it’s not until he manages to catch sight of flashing hands that he realizes that they’re communicating in sign. It always leads back to one, however, even as they strike at the enraged Fellbeast: the woman with the lanky frame and deadly eyes. <em> The woman I saw at Kaz’s cabin. </em></p><p>The chances of Eli listening to him are probably less than zero, so David instead settles for dancing around the fight, the members of his party beginning to get caught up in the battle as it spreads. “<em> Diamond Dragon! </em> ” he shouts, as loud as he can. “ <em> Come! GET OUT OF THERE!” </em></p><p>D.D. ignores him entirely, instead choosing- much like Eli- to wade further into the fight, approaching the Fellbeast, who he is only a few inches shy of matching height-wise. He is dripping embers but not spitting flame, and seems frantically dismayed when his powerful wingbeats only drive away people for a moment before they come flowing back.</p><p>Another bolt of black lightning sears the turf, and Mantis’ raised arms catch the attention of the women, who spit and jeer at him insultingly. The warlock prepares to strike again, but is caught off-guard by Mei Ling, who clips him with a bolt of her own bright sparks and a furious expression on her usually cheerful features. Eli is caught in a swordfight with one of the hunters, blades scraping against blades. Meryl and Wolf have gotten caught up, and their horses’ hooves rear in the sunlight as the strangers take them on.</p><p>People are lying on the ground- whether they are dead or not, Snake cannot tell. A woman shoots at him but misses, the arrow only denting his pauldron. Hal’s stallion dances on his feet as he desperately tries to stay away from a stranger’s spear, and all the while, the Fellbeast is screaming like the damned, its enormous jaws foaming at the corners.</p><p>He stumbles backwards as the women pull back from the beast, and he sees that a section of them have grouped off, the telltale clicks of crossbows sounding over the throng. The woman he saw is at its head, and she gestures wildly, but she’s too far away for David to read her hands.</p><p>He’s attempting to push his way towards Hal when it happens- in a coordinated effort, the section pushes forwards, thrusting lances and spears and swords, all aiming towards the Fellbeast’s heart.</p><p>But before they can pierce the monster’s flesh, a shadow looms over the battlefield, larger than any Mantis could have conjured. D.D. falls from the sky as heavily as he did nights ago, wings outstretched, and shields the Fellbeast from the strike. When blades puncture his scales and the membrane of his wings, he screams.</p><p>His lashing tail and beating wings scatter the women like leaves in the wind, and he crumples to the earth in a trail of embers. </p><p>Hal’s next to David now- his eyes wide, his glasses smudged- </p><p>David yells something that’s lost in the din as the Fellbeast towers above D.D.’s prone form-</p><p>A flash of tooth and tusk. </p><p>And they all watch as the Fellbeast digs its teeth into the thick plating of D.D.’s neck and drags him back, scraping up the turf, the dragon’s cries weak and gurgling. They retreat in a tangle backwards, until D.D.’s thrashing tail disappears into the cavern below.</p><p>The women are not far behind- at least, they are until lightning sears the earth again and they grind to a halt. Eli storms towards the leader, Mantis’ ever-floating presence behind him, his face twisted in an upset snarl.</p><p>“Will no one <em> listen </em>to me!” he shrieks as David and his knights collect themselves and ride up to the fray. The turf is steaming with dragons’ blood and deep furrows cut by the Fellbeast’s claws, and the sunlight has turned cold on David’s sweaty skin.</p><p>The woman with the face paint- or is it dirt?- stares down at Eli imperiously, her pale green eyes unnervingly sharp and cold. When David dismounts, his sword still drawn and Hal behind, she pins him with the same glare momentarily, but stays stony and silent. Under the faint sheen of dirt on her skin, he can see a rune inscribed on her throat. She is cursed.</p><p>“All of you need to leave <em> now!” </em> Eli bellows, waving his blade dangerously close to the opposing group, who collectively murmur in distaste when it slices past them. A woman approaches from the throng- shorter than her leader by far (although the leader is easily the tallest of all of them), with tan skin. Where her arms should be are metal limbs, tipped with fierce claws bloodied from the fight. She crosses those arms now, her pose clearly saying, <em> This is my leader, and I’m her favorite. </em></p><p>“<em> Speak clearly, serpent,” </em> signs the leader, so fast that David can barely read it. He’s grateful that the metal-armed woman is voicing the words as they’re formed. “ <em> We’re here to take our bounty, not talk to some empty-headed fool.”  </em></p><p><em> Bounty hunters, </em>David realizes as the group laughs quietly at their leaders’ barb. Eli grimaces and runs his hands through his hair, but before he can speak, Hal steps in front of David. “I’m all for you killing the Beast, but you have to let us in there. My sister-“</p><p>“You <em> can’t </em> kill him!” Eli shouts. “I didn’t go to all this trouble to reanimate my uncle just for him to die <em> now </em>!”</p><p>A hush falls over everyone.</p><p>David is the first to find his voice- choking out the words through the sudden crush in his throat. “Eli... <em> what do you mean.” </em></p><p>The metal-armed woman looks up worriedly at her leader and whispers. “Quiet, if he’s really...”</p><p>Eli ignores David completely, focused entirely on Quiet and her gang. “That beast,” he begins, pointing at the mouth of the Fell, “is no monster. He’s my uncle, Venom Snake. I went through <em> hell and back </em> to get him to where he is now, and things might have gone wrong more than once, but I am <em> not </em> letting you <em> take him FROM ME!”  </em></p><p>Quiet’s eyes widen. For the first time, she looks genuinely surprised. “<em> Venom Snake?” </em></p><p>David’s vision is going red. He grabs Eli by the shoulders, gauntlets digging into the fabric of his shirt. “Eli, what the fuck have you done? <em> What have you done to our uncle? </em>”</p><p>“Exactly what I said, <em> brother </em> ,” he spits. “I reanimated him using the ashes from his pyre. It wasn’t easy, oh no, but I did it, didn’t I! After you <em> killed him, </em>may I remind you.”</p><p>“Tha... That wasn’t Uncle Venom! That was a <em> beast! </em> A monster! <em> Eli, what happened?! </em>”</p><p>Eli’s mouth twitches in a sadistic smile. “Oh, now you should know about this, David! Naomi said that because he died <em> betrayed </em>, his body wasn’t brought back properly. I wonder who could have-“</p><p>He doesn’t get to finish his sentence, because David has punched him in the jaw. A bright speck of tooth flies out and lands, bloody, on the grass; Mantis raises his hands and everyone stiffens.</p><p>But Eli just looks back up at him, spits on the turf, and grins with a missing molar.</p><p>“Haven’t lost your right hook,” he grins through bloodied teeth, but his eyes are anything but friendly. David’s entire body is shaking- he’s going to <em> kill him </em> for what he did to their uncle, their <em> father- </em></p><p>“Hey, <em> hey!” </em>His vision clears as Hal steps in front of him, arms raised. “I am stopping this before it even starts. Naomi- that’s the Witch of the Wood. If she was involved in this, then I want to see her. Maybe she can help us- and you two can kill each other all you want on the way there.”</p><p>“We can take you to her,” Mantis rasps, the jaws of his metal mask creaking. It’s the first time he’s even bothered to speak. “It’s not far.”</p><p>“<em> We’ll come with you, </em>” Quiet interrupts, with a look in her eyes that suggests she won’t be easily budged on this, and refuses to elaborate.</p><p>“Fine,” Hal agrees. “No time to lose.” He swings onto his stallion and rides off, the rest following, slow in the fading mist and leaving David there to seethe in anger.</p><p>He continues seething when he goes to mount his mare and sees something among the rocks, near the Fell’s entrance- something distinctly not stone. It lies inches from the entrance, partially against a wall, and its shape becomes painfully clear as David approaches.</p><p>It’s an arm, but not any arm. A metal one, a graceful creation of interlocking plates. The surface is scuffed black, the palms worn silver from heavy use, the inside no longer glowing with its usual internal orange. David has to close his eyes before he picks it up, trying to take deep breaths.</p><p>Because he knows whose arm this is.</p><p>It’s Kaz’s. And as he puts the empty shell of a prosthetic in his saddlebag and follows the group slowly disappearing into the Blackwood, his anger begins to sharpen itself into something very cold and very hard.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>sorry for oc crimes except i'm not lol. quiet's favorite is lion from my other fic!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Of Hurt and Limbs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which an answer is proposed.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Leave.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal scowls at Naomi’s blank statement, but he can’t help but understand where she’s coming from. There are heavy bags under the witch’s eyes, and her hands are balled into fists at her sides. At her feet, her familiars twine themselves in circles, the snakes’ eyes glowing a dull red.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, come on, Naomi,” Eli says, coming up and clapping her on the shoulder. “They’re friends!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>touch me</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she mumbles. “And none of the people here are friends, least of all </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Bounty hunters, the king and his knights </span>
  <em>
    <span>again- </span>
  </em>
  <span>apparently, I cannot get even a moment of peace in this godforsaken cave.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know it’s been a while, Witch-“ Hal steps up, but Naomi waves him off. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Please. It’s Naomi. What do all of you want from me? These two have already run me ragged the past three years, and my temper is fraying.” Eli has the decency to look slightly less cocky at her words, but Mantis shows no such emotion. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before Hal can reply, David pushes brusquely past him. He’s upset, Hal can see it in the furrow between his brows, but his voice is unexpectedly cool and calm. “Eli claims that the Fellbeast is our uncle, reanimated. Is it true?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naomi eyes him, then sighs. “Yes. Yes, it is true, and I wish to high heavens it wasn’t. You can already see what he did to my cave.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sure enough, the wall of dirt and magic symbols that once protected Naomi’s secret home is completely obliterated, and even some of the top of the hillock has been burst out of. Clods of dirt lie scattered around in haphazard chunks, and inside, the red glow of the cavern illuminates scratches running along the stony walls. Some of Quiet’s hunters kick at the dirt chunks, revealing the inscribed runes that once unlocked the door.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David is visibly shaking now. Hal reaches forwards and places his hand on his wrist, but he does not respond. He’s glaring daggers at his brother, who looks pointedly away.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Necromancy is a dangerous kind of magic,” Naomi continues, keeping an eye on Quiet and her translator, who have come to join them. “There’s a lot of different pieces to it, and if even one goes wrong, the whole thing will turn out horribly. Eli told me what happened- </span>
  <em>
    <span>after the fact</span>
  </em>
  <span>, may I add, or I would have never agreed to do it. I’m not surprised that he turned out that way if he’s telling the truth.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No one’s told me what happened here,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Quiet interrupts. Despite being silent, her presence is forceful enough to make Naomi stop and take notice of her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, you’re under a nasty curse, aren’t you?” she muses. Quiet scowls. “Well, if Eli is to be believed, Venom Snake died twice betrayed. Once by his brother, and once by his nephew- it’s very hard to reanimate someone whole when they died like that. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it had only been once, but because it was twice, he’s neither physically nor mentally himself.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So we have to kill him,” David murmurs. When Hal looks up at him, his eyes are looking somewhere very far away.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I already said, I wouldn’t let you!” Eli spits. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>ask,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” David retorts, and Hal can feel that this argument is going to brew for far longer than any of them want.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I would rather not kill him,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Quiet says, looking pensive. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>But he would not want to live like this. I’d rather give him peace than let him exist in this monstrous form.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Anything that gets you gone,” Naomi sighs. Eli looks at her, offended, but she ignores him, and turns on her heel to go back inside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She doesn’t get far. David’s hand darts from Hal’s grasp and grabs her by the wrist, dirtying her skin with his gauntlet. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s nothing you can do?” he says, quietly. “I can’t- I can’t do that again.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naomi rubs her forehead and sighs deeply. At her feet, the Twin Serpents coil around each other, hissing at the set of brothers. “You two are the bane of my existence... Yes, in theory, there’s something I could do.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you say so before!” Eli exclaims. “If you could have fixed this-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn’t,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” she spits. “There’s absolutely nothing I can do to make him truly whole again. No one could do that. But if I had something powerful enough from his life, there’s a chance I could restore his mind. I need something incredibly personal to him, or maybe someone he loved. And I extremely doubt that any of you-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Without saying a word, David turns around and walks to his horse, who is panting not far away, and pulls out a hunk of metal. He holds it out to Naomi.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It takes Hal a moment to recognize it, beaten-up and detached from its owner as it is, and he stiffens when he does.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is Iron Dove’s arm,” David says. “Dove is- </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> his husband.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naomi takes it from his hands delicately, as if she’s afraid the thick metal plates will break in her grip. When she runs her hand over it, Hal sees the internal flame light up briefly along the cracks, then die down again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...I can try.” She says after a moment. The Serpents begin to climb up the fabric of her dress to settle over her shoulders. “Give me a day, maybe two. I... this was all a mistake. You’ll take whatever I can come up with and leave. </span>
  <em>
    <span>All </span>
  </em>
  <span>of you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A fair deal,” Hal replies. “More than fair.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Naomi retreats into her cavern, clutching Kaz’s arm close, her familiars following. Eli and Mantis tuck themselves into a shaded corner of trees, talking lowly about something that Hal doesn’t want to hear, and Quiet pulls back to speak with her hunters. A hand clamps on Hal’s shoulder, and he flinches, only to see Meryl behind him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’ll make camp,” she says. “It’s been... a long few days.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tell me about it,” Hal mumbles. Now that Naomi is gone and the tension is beginning to dissipate, he can feel the tiredness begin to set in on his bones, heavy and aching. He wishes he was somewhere else. He wishes he was tucked under the sheets of his bed with Sunny and David, he wishes he was in his paper-strewn office, wishes he was checking up on lonely Raiden- he wishes he could be anywhere but here.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t trust the bounty hunters,” Meryl continues. “They’re not knights. They may decide on their own to go after the Fellbeast.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know. Meryl- can we worry about this later? Please.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She sighs, and runs her hand through her hair. “Okay. Okay. But if this comes to bite us in the ass- don’t say I didn’t warn you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Deal.” It’s just then that Hal notices the empty space next to him where someone should definitely be. “Have you seen David?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He went into the woods a little while ago. Didn’t see anything after that. Do you think you should go after him? He’s not dealing with this well.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal can feel the weight on his bones. “Of course I should. And- and I will.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Just after they turn away from each other, Meryl looks back, cups her hand to shout at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re too good for each other, Hal. Be nice.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the leaves of the Blackwood swallow him up, Hal says, “I will.” She doesn’t hear him, but he wasn’t saying it to her anyway.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Of Scars and Autumn</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which memories are never truly forgotten.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Bark splinters under David’s armored knuckles, and he wishes he could feel it more. The trees loom over him, gray and cold, and when he pulls back, orange leaves scatter from the branches.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s being childish. He knows he is- he shouldn’t be running away from the knights. From Hal. Anyone else would have stayed, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>known</span>
  </em>
  <span> to stay. They need him there.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But he can’t help tasting his own panic in his mouth. He can't stop the hurt from pulling at his teeth and searing in his blood. Right now, the grief seems as sharp and as harsh as it did years ago, strong enough to make him hide away from the world.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He remembers. He remembers and it hurts.</span>
</p><hr/>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Did you ever want to be more than a knight?” He asks him that night. They’re alone, away from where the rest of them have made camp, and the full moon is high above the mountain line.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I don’t know,” David replies. Frank’s hand is warm in his. He feels lighter than he’s ever felt, and grounded all at once. “My father was always a knight. So were Uncles Kaz and Venom... I never really thought about it.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I have,” Frank says. He’s not looking at David, but he twines their fingers a little closer. He doesn’t elaborate. David doesn’t ask him to.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>And then he’s holding Frank in his arms. He knows the wound is too deep, knows it’s too much. His breaths are fading out, tiny, fluttering, too delicate to be the last breaths of a dying man.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>What had he thought about being, other than this? What had he wanted to become that would have stripped him of his rank and let him live longer? David had never asked, and he never got the chance.</span>
  </em>
</p><hr/>
<p>
  <span>“David?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He turns, and of </span>
  <em>
    <span>course </span>
  </em>
  <span>he’s there, a lance of midday sunlight catching the silver in his hair. Hal is always there. How could he not be?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But David aches deep in his bones, an old sort of ache. The familiarity of it hurts all the more- it’s an ache he felt every day in that old cabin next to the Blackwood, an ache he drowned out with loneliness and moonshine. He realizes, quite belatedly, that Kaz lived out in the middle of nowhere because of the same ache.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And now he’s dead.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Dead at the malformed claws of his own husband- who wouldn’t be a monster if David had taken a moment to let him turn around, waited before he struck, before the blade of his sword pierced Venom’s heart like so much fragile flesh. He’d taught him kindness in between his father’s brutality, and how had David repaid him? </span>
</p><hr/>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He can feel Frank’s weight still on his palms as he rushes forwards, teeth bared, the cracks between his armor feeling grimy and soiled. He’s dripping with blood that isn’t his.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>David’s father had done this. He’d ripped Gray Fox out of his life as cruelly as one might smash a wounded doe’s head in with a rock; a cold and unfeeling kill. He’d looked him in the eyes as the sword cut upwards into Frank’s lungs: a dull acceptance at what he had just done.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>There’s fire sparking in his veins. David knows that it will cool with time, cool into a thick and deep misery, but until then, he is buoyed by revenge. And now he can take it.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>The man’s back is to him- a fool’s mistake. He knows where the crack in the plating is, a lesson taught to him by the man he’s about to kill. He aims there, the blade hitting true.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Dav-”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He turns. The sword sprouts from his back, a perverted sapling.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>David’s firey blood instantly goes cold.</span>
  </em>
</p><hr/>
<p>
  <span>“David, we’re setting up camp to wait for a while,” Hal says. “You should come with us...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His eyes are on the leaf litter below his boots. He can’t stand to look at him- that shrewd look in his eyes as he untangles whatever’s eating at David, well-versed in the intricacies of his heart after so long of learning each other. He’s sure that if they switched places, with Hal standing alone in the forest, he could tease out the reason from between his teeth. It’s simultaneously wonderful and infuriating.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...this wasn’t your fault, David. I- God, I’m so sorry, but you didn’t do this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know. And- Hal.” He finally manages to look up, and sure enough, he’s staring at him with pity and love. How did he ever deserve him? “I thought I would be all right by now. That it would hurt less. I have you, I have Sunny- I thought I was doing better. And now- God.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s a headache building behind his furrowed brow, and he ignores it. “When does it stop, Hal?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, David,” he murmurs, “I don’t- I don’t know. I’m sorry.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He says nothing. But he doesn’t pull away when Hal comes closer, cups his jaw in his hands. Hal has grey eyes, very different from David’s own steely blue; he’s always thinking behind them, white sparks flicking like comets in his irises. David stares into them and leans forward till their foreheads- sweaty and smeared with dirt from the battle- are touching.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can tell you one thing,” Hal murmurs. David says nothing, but hums in acknowledgment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you,” he whispers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It should be less special by now, all things considered. He’d known for three years now- from the day Hal pulled him into his bedroom not a week after they'd arrived back at the castle, and kissed him senseless. But every time, it felt like he was hearing it new. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>He loves me.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And things couldn’t be that bad, if Hal still loved him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The hurt settles, groaning as it goes, tucking itself under David’s breastbone. Not so bad. The kind of hurt he could carry, the kind of hurt that could be sliced up and understood, not the crushing grip around his throat like it was minutes earlier.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He breathes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I love you too,” he replies. When he leans forwards, Hal’s lips are already there, and he tastes like salt and dirt and everything familiar and warm that David has ever loved.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They pull apart, but not far. “David, I-“</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your Majesty? David?” A faint voice interrupts Hal, and they both look up to see Mei Ling emerge from the woods. She looks just as tired as David feels, deep down. “We’ve just started a fire. You should come and get warm.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes,” Hal says. “Yes, we should.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His hand doesn’t leave David’s grasp as they push their way back through the trees.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>at the final push!!! won't lie, i think this is the best chapter and the rest are kind of weak, but i hope you'll stick around anyway!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Of Secrets and Swords</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which a loved one is injured.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s the first time they’ve been able to relax in days, and it’s nowhere near enough. Hal and his knights cluster around their fire, slowly taking their armor off piece by piece, the pot above the flames bubbling softly with a simple stew. Across from him, Meryl and Mei Ling lean against each other, Mei Ling running her hands over her fiance’s bruises. Winter Wolf tests the springs on her crossbow, looking sharp in the dark.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David peels off his gauntlets, sighing heavily. In the dark, Hal can just see the shape of Eli and Mantis, and when the firelight catches Mantis’ mask, he shivers. Having D.D. around had been uncomfortable, but he sorely wished the dragon was still there, instead of David’s murderous brother and his warlock. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Farther than that, in their own huddle, the bounty hunters chew on something in the dark. There’s about twenty in all, Quiet at their head, her sharp eyes glinting in the shadows.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>None of them speak much. Meryl and Mei Ling talk quietly to each other, in words too soft for Hal to hear. The knights sharpen their swords and peel off their armor, each one with dark shadows under their eyes. When the food is ready, they eat in silence. Naomi’s cave pops and glows with red light, but she does not emerge.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they bank the fire and sleep, the embers glow dimly against the dirt, and David’s body is warm against Hal’s back. He stares up at the sky above, and sleep evades him, even with David’s fingers tangled with his.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Is Emma even still alive? </span>
  </em>
  <span>he wonders, mournfully. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That wasn’t Venom Snake, it was a monster. Why would he keep her alive all this time? Why would he keep any of them alive?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If Kaz really was dead- like his detached arm suggested- then there really was no going back. If Venom had brought himself to kill the man he loved most in the world, then there was surely no hope for Emma or D.D. The thought of them, dead in the dark cavern, ripped to shreds by a man who was once known for his kindness, sent a horrifying chill down Hal’s spine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If they were dead, then there was no magic or potion in the world that could do anything to bring him back. They would have to kill Venom Snake, once and for all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The day breaks with the thought still ringing in his head, and it continues to haunt him well into the next day. Naomi still does not emerge from her cavern, although ominous hissing noises are heard from the depths all day. The groups mill around the forest, preparing idly, with an air of dread hanging over them in a thick cloud.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It takes the rest of the next day for anything to happen. The evening is beginning to threaten the afternoon, Hal half-heartedly stroking his stallion’s nose, brushing off the sweat on his muzzle, when a triumphant cry echoes across the clearing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve done it!” Naomi cries, the Serpents coiling before her, holding aloft a bottle of gray liquid. When the scattered groups converge around her, she shoves the bottle into Hal’s hands. The surface is dully cold, like stones buried deep underground; the liquid inside is ashy and swirls of its own accord.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What is this?” David asks, peering over Hal’s shoulder at the substance. Naomi puffs out her chest, clearly pleased with herself, although the shadows under her eyes betrays a lack of sleep. She must have worked the night through, even though her confidence does not suggest it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A potion,” she says, preening under their gazes. “If the Fellbeast drinks it, his mind should return to him from the afterlife. Hopefully he isn’t too far gone. Well, you’d all best be going! White Snake, Mantis, if I see you around my cavern again, I’ll have my familiars at your necks. Farewell!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She turns heel and strides back into her cavern.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With the less than subtle dismissal, they’re all ready to go within a matter of minutes. The tension that has built up over the day is sharp and poignant in the air, heavy on all their tongues.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Will you fight with us, Quiet?” Hal asks, when the bounty hunter passes him as he saddles his horse. She looks at him askance, her translator somewhere in the crush.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>For as long as is necessary,</span>
  </em>
  <span>” she signs. He nods. It’s the most he could ask of her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When they arrive at the Fell once more, Hal feels as tightly drawn as a bowstring, deathly afraid that D.D.’s gored corpse will be replacing the horses’ on the lawn. Thankfully, there’s no draconic body lying dead on the grass this time- just the evidence of their last battle, chunks of turf ripped up by gouging claws and blood thick and covered in flies in the grass. David pulls up next to him, the potion tucked away in his saddlebags, eyes hard.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The plan, Your Majesty?” Meryl says from behind him. Hal’s eyes stay trained on the gaping mouth of the cavern, wheels turning furiously in his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Subdue at any cost,” he replies, after a while. “Get him down and prone. If the potion doesn’t work...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t finish the thought. They all know what he means anyway.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Having heard his words, Quiet raises her crossbow, aims at the mouth of the cavern, and fires. A perfect shot- the arrow impales itself squarely in the dirt and the sharp report of its firing echoes into the cavern. Everyone tenses. Out of the corner of his eye, Hal catches sight of Eli and Mantis, prepared to fight again. He never thought he would be fighting alongside them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m going to go down to the cavern,” he whispers to David, as deep rumbling begins to sound, echoing through the earth. “Trust me.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I do,” David replies. And then the ground explodes once more.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal remembers Venom Snake, although not very well. He was a sharp contrast to the foolish and calculated cruelty of his brother, an open man with an open heart. If Poison Snake was a dangerous viper, his brother was a loyal and steadfast hunting hound, kind to a fault and always willing to help. He had been a large and warm presence in the castle.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the Fellbeast charges towards them again, Hal finds it extremely difficult to relate the two. Spittle flies from the beasts’ jaws as he slams down his massive paws, digging into the earth with a titanic roar and sending the arrayed troops flying. They scatter again, an attempt to surround the Beast, keep him occupied. Hal’s stallion whinnies in protest, but steadies moments later.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal is no fighter, but the tides of battle are strong and heavy, and he finds himself pushed along in it while keeping his eyes open for the opportunity he needs. Quiet stays with her hunters, moving as a seamless unit, their blades slashing but not too deeply at the Fellbeast’s hide. David leads the knights, all of whom are dancing around the monster’s paws and avoiding his massive teeth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mantis and Mei Ling find each other in the crowd somehow, drawn together by their mastery over magic. The dark, inky warlock’s magic slices across the field in thick bolts, corralling the Fellbeast with careful strikes, accompanied by the icy blue of Mei Ling’s own energy. It’s an uneasy sort of truce, and the monster quickly begins to shrug off the crackling lightning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Fellbeast gets angrier and angrier, and the battle is roiling like a stormcloud now. Metal flashes wherever Hal looks, and with a massive swipe of his paws, a group of Quiet’s hunters are bowled completely over, sprawling on the ground. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There. A breath in between the crashing metal and screaming bodies, a pause in the scene. Hal takes it at a breakneck pace, his horses’ hooves flashing and warriors falling away at his sides.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He barely stops to dismount, throwing the stallions’ lead over a rocky outcropping at the tunnel’s mouth before flinging himself inside with abandon. The sounds of ferocious combat begin to fade, although the blood roaring in his ears does not. It takes a few moments in his hurry, but the dirt walls of the tunnel contract slightly, and Hal notices that when he pulls his hand away from the wall, it is slick with a dark fluid. Broken crossbow bolts litter the floor, and the air smells like copper and soil.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The cave opens up around him, slowly at first, until he’s standing in yawning darkness- but not quite. There’s something in the shadows, illuminating the room in a soft orange glow, fading and rising like the slow and steady beat of a heart.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s familiar, but Hal doesn’t realize what it is before it opens its eyes and stands.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh,” he says, because there’s nothing else to say.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>ALMOST THERE!!!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Of Beasts and Blood</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which a battle ends.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>David’s heart is pounding in his throat, thick and heavy in the heat of battle. He can hear everything with alarming clarity- the painful roars of the Fellbeast, the slick sliding of metal against metal, the sharp report of firing crossbows.</p>
<p>The battle is not going well. Not at all. Every time the Beast moves, he scatters burning hot blood, raining down like firey tears, his fury deep and cavernous. And even with his injuries, they are still losing. More and more people lie prone on the dirt- none of the knights, thank the heavens, but Quiet’s bounty hunters are weathering the worst of it. Every roar is punctuated with another person down, her friends dragging her back out of the fight. </p>
<p>It doesn’t help that David has been avoiding the fight as much as possible; he feels worse and worse with each casualty. But he can’t help it. He sees his brother in the fray, blond hair dirtied with their uncles’ blood. He sees Kaz’s ruined house in splinters at his feet every time the tides of battle shift his position.</p>
<p>And because he does not go to battle, the battle comes to him.</p>
<p>The Fellbeast’s massive head swings around, single gleaming eye sparking with rage, and trains his gaze on David. His jaws loll open, drooling profusely; the fluid is laced with maroon. Under his gaze, David freezes, trapped in the cold irons of what he’s done.</p>
<p>He lunges. David flinches, holds the Flameheart above his head instinctively. The flat of the blade shines firey in the light- the Beast’s maw is more than big enough to bite him in half, and David looks into his oncoming death and knows that this is his penance.</p>
<p>Before another blade slides up and the Fellbeast rears back, blood flying.</p>
<p>Eli is next to him, eyes wild, hair ragged and teeth bared. He pushes back against the Fellbeast’s fangs, and the deep howl that emerges as the flat of his sword holds him back shakes David down to his spine.</p>
<p>“Help me, you <em> bastard, </em>” Eli snarls from between clenched teeth, and David snaps back into the world. He shoves back, and the Flameheart sears against the Fellbeast’s hide. </p>
<p>He’s almost too much for them. David knows that if he had been alone, his uncle would have gored him. But together, they hold their own, the Fellbeast’s breath searing hot and heavy against their faces. David’s boots begin to drive furrows into the earth below, tearing up the turf behind him. </p>
<p>David looks up, and he locks eyes with the Fellbeast’s single, furious gaze. This is not his uncle. This is a monster he created with his own rage, his own grief. He’s going to kill David.</p>
<p>And for the first time in years, David finds that he doesn’t want to die. He wants to keep going: for Hal, for their daughter, for his knights and his dogs. He wants to see Raiden get knighted, and watch Meryl and Mei Ling get married. He doesn’t just want to survive- he wants to <em> live. </em></p>
<p>They can’t do this for long. Thankfully, they don’t have to. Out of nowhere, a searing black bolt of lightning strikes the Fellbeast’s snarling head, knocking him to the side with a gruesome howl. To their right, Mantis floats, arms raised, mask askew, revealing old scars on his pale face. He wastes no time rushing to Eli’s side as Quiet’s hunters occupy the monster once more.</p>
<p>This fight is unwinnable. They cannot possibly tackle the Beast- and when Meryl rushes past him, Mei Ling limp in her arms, he knows it even more. Her eyes are panicked in a way he’s never seen her before; a wild animal fear.</p>
<p>Someone, over the din and destruction, screams. It’s a wordless, feral cry, like nothing David has ever heard. When he looks, Quiet is bent over, crouched over the prone form of her metal-armed favorite. </p>
<p>They are tiring. They are tiring and the Fellbeast is not, and the Flameheart is heavy in his hand.</p>
<p>He is a knight, and he’ll live as one, for as long as he has left.</p>
<p>David raises his blade and rushes his uncle for the second time.</p>
<p>With the limited assailants, it doesn’t take long for the Fellbeast to notice his charge, swinging his massive head to stare down at him. His tusks are profusely smeared with blood; crossbow arrows stick out from his hide like thorns. He is a wounded monolith, and he snorts, blood dripping from his nostrils and rippling the grass.</p>
<p>He lunges. David does not run. This time, there is no brother to save him, the scattered allies too distracted to attract the Fellbeast’s attention. He raises his sword, and hopes that Hal made it, hidden in the cavern, and found what he needed to find. He hopes Hal will keep going when he finds him dead underneath the Beast’s corpse.</p>
<p>And then the Fellbeast is flung away.</p>
<p>Heat sears the battlefield, accompanied by a ferocious roar. David reels as a blast of wind pushes him backwards, and a shadow falls across the ground, casting them all in a temporary dusk.</p>
<p>Diamond Dragon flings himself with wild abandon at the monster that was his master, wings flared wide and throat glowing nearly white with an internal flame. He’s not dead, and as he sinks his talons into the Fellbeast’s fur, David sees who else is not dead.</p>
<p>There are three people perched haphazardly on D.D.’s scaly back, clinging to his spines, their hair blowing in the wind as the dragon tackles his master to the ground. One of them is Hal- hair shining silver in the weak sunlight, face dirty and twisted in a furious scowl, looking more handsome than David has ever seen him. One of them clings to Hal’s back, wearing a torn cloak, her glasses glinting- unmistakably Emma.</p>
<p>In front of both of them sits a tall man, holding on to his dragon’s back with his remaining arm, smeared with mud and dark blood that isn’t his. His hair is dirty and blonde, flying in the wind in a long tail, and the most important thing is that he is here, and <em> alive. </em></p>
<p>Kazuhira Miller is alive.</p>
<p>D.D. shifts the tides of battle so quickly that David is barely able to comprehend that it’s over, pinning the Fellbeast down with a taloned claw pinning his head to the earth. He thrashes, but does not shake the dragon off, unwilling to harm him even now, and the world holds its breath as D.D.’s passengers manage to slide off.</p>
<p>And even though his uncle is alive and (mostly) whole, when Hal’s feet hit the earth, David finds that he only has eyes for him. They collide hard enough for David to stumble, but for a moment, his whole world is Hal, everything he can see and feel and touch. He buries his head in his neck and digs his fingers into his shoulderbones, and the world rights on its axis again.</p>
<p>They come together slowly, those of them still standing. Hal and David pull apart, and when they do, Kaz is waiting for them, hand on his hips. He looks down his nose at his nephew, only the slightest tinge in his eyes betraying that he’s overjoyed to see him once more. He barely feels real, and when Eli approaches as well, David knows that he feels the same way?</p>
<p>“Uncle...?” Eli whispers. Kaz looks back, back at where D.D. spreads his wings over the Fellbeast to keep him down. He holds his hand out to David.</p>
<p>“Let’s end this, boys.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>almost there! these last few chapters aren't as good as i would like them to be, but here's hoping they're satisfying for you!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Of Potions and Rebirth</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which death is cheated.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>There’s a horrible, heart-wrenching handful of moments before things happen when Hal is terrified that the Fellbeast is going to snap up and eat all of them whole.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kaz takes the potion from David and barely inspects it before he begins to approach the monster that was his husband. D.D.’s jaws are firmly around his neck now, still thrashing against his teeth, but he manages to hold him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They all watch. Silence falls over the Fell, a deep pause in breath. Quiet is cradling her favorite in her arms, what remains of her hunters standing behind her, bloodied and weak. Eli stands, arm twined with Mantis’, face pale and uncertain, the first time Hal has ever seen him visibly shaken. Mei Ling stirs against her fiance’s chest, barely strong enough to stand, Meryl’s eyebrows furrowed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Kaz approaches, the Fellbeast twitches and finally lies still. He looks up at Kaz with his one visible eye, panting heavily. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Kaz...”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal’s eyes widen. It’s the first time any of them have heard the Fellbeast speak, and it echoes in their bones, deep and low and unavoidably </span>
  <em>
    <span>sad.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m here, darling,” Kaz replies. Slowly, he places his hand on the Fellbeast’s snout. “Can you listen to me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>...Kaz...</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They watch in silence as Kaz kneels, more caring than he’s ever been, and gently places the mouth of the bottle between the Beast’s fangs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He closes his eyes and lowers his head. D.D. pulls away, standing tentatively, the tips of his claws bloodied. The silent world holds its breath, all of them pausing at once, waiting for the death sentence the potion might ensure.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...you’re covered in blood.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They breathe out together. Venom’s head rises from the earth, eye only on his husband, the man he’d been separated from for six long years.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I am,” Kaz whispers, and Hal can just barely hear the tremor in his voice. “It’s not mine.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m glad,” Venom rumbles, and finally looks up. “...David? Eli? Is that you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David’s hand slips out of Hal’s, and he lets him go, seeing the tears in his eyes. Venom begins to pull himself up, crossbow arrows snapping off and clattering to the ground. “Uncle Venom...”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s been a long time-” Eli cuts him off by flinging himself at his uncle, wrapping his arms around him and squeezing hard enough to make him wince.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, Uncle!” he shouts, like he’s telling the world, like it’ll fix what he’s done- and Venom laughs, loud and low and deep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once he stands, Venom quickly becomes all they think about. He is large and bloodied and kind, and they all begin to unwind, taking stock of the casualties and beginning to heal. The knights huddle around a Mei Ling who is swiftly coming back to consciousness; she is eagerly greeted by Meryl kissing her like no tomorrow. The hunters recollect, heavily wounded, their numbers small, but when Venom leans his massive head over there is a surprising reunion amongst them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Quiet?” he rumbles, and she steps out of the throng, her favorite taken by caring hands. He lowers his head, and she places her forehead on his snout.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>It is good to see you again. I didn’t think I would get the chance.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Agreed, my old friend. Agreed.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Kaz takes care of Venom like he was never abducted from his home, pulling bolts from his hide and patching up bloody abrasions. It doesn’t take long for D.D. to curl up against him, a tangle of scales and fur and softly humming family brought back together.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Emma’s hand is hot in Hal’s, and she fades quickly, the excitement taking a toll on her after spending so long in the dark. He brings her over to the knights and she lies down, blinking sleepily. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I got what I was looking for, Hal,” she murmurs. He grins. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>From inside of her cloak, she pulls a disc of shining metal, and her lips quirk up in a smile. “...worth it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hal laughs, quietly, and watches her slip into sleep, beginning to heal. They’ll be all right. They’d all be all right.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When he stands, David is waiting for him, eyes soft, armor dented. He’s dirty and bloodied, just like all of them are, and Hal has never loved anyone more.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Marry me,” he says, because he’d wanted to ask him, because he thinks that after today especially, he never wants to be separated from David ever again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He pauses, for a moment. Their hands find each other easily, like it’s the most natural thing in the world.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...do you think the country is ready for two Kings?” David murmurs, pulling him close. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know I am.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>David laughs, and for the first time in hours, the sun breaks from behind the clouds.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes. Yes, yes, of course I’ll marry you,” he says, like he knew he would, but Hal still can’t stop smiling.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>listen i am SO SORRY this was a week late!!! i was staying with a friend last wednesday and it completely slipped my mind. the epilogue will be up on time!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Ghost</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The bounty hunters bring home their prize.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“It’s incredible, how much coin you’ve made from just this one job.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know!” Pashmina wipes sweat from her brow, grinning in the hot desert sun. Her arms are tired from carrying chests and barrels all day, but after a lot of travelling, it’s good to know that they’re finally home. “It was one of the weirdest bounties we’ve ever hunted, too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh? Do tell.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A man in the Northern Isle reanimated his uncle- apparently, his brother had killed him years before, and it made him into a monster? I really don’t know, but the fight was awful. And in the end bam! Some potion, and they brought his mind back!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Amazing!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The king was even there at the fight, he brought some of his knights too.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s a hell of a story.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Isn’t it?” She’s more than satisfied, knowing that she’ll tell this story to her grandchildren. “Quiet knew him, too. Apparently he had been a knight- I think his name was Venom Snake?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rubbing his chin, Desert Ocelot’s eyes narrow in the sun, and his mouth twitches in the smallest and slyest of smiles.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...Venom Snake, you say? Tell me more.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>UH OH BASTARD ALERT</p>
<p>and with that, thank you for reading!! a final sequel might be in store.... one day....</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>back at it again</p>
<p>check me out at @rainphee on <a href="https://rainphee.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/rainphee">twitter</a>! i'd love to hear from you.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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